


Not on My Watch

by Mikasa361



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Drama, Literature, fan fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-08-29 16:37:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8497525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikasa361/pseuds/Mikasa361
Summary: Armin Arlert and his friends are waiting for his family to return home.... As he stands there worried, he reflects on a time in his childhood... And his world comes crashing down.Oh hey, I have a server for writing and stuff. Check it out right here! Come for writing tips- or bring some of your own! Either way, come visit that little snake with the top hat!





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of my first Attack on Titan fan fictions!!!! 
> 
> Attack on Titan belongs to Hajime Isayama. I used some dialogue (towards the end) from the English dub of the anime, so credits to the producers of the English dub, too!!! 
> 
> Hope you like it! :3 And thanks for reading!!!

     I grip my grandfather's hat as I watch the refugees re-enter Wall Rose. Very few are left, but I hope to see at least one of their faces. My two friends stay by my sides. We're going to get rations soon, but I refuse to eat until I know what happened to my family... Even if the truth is brutal. Mom... Dad... Grandfather... PLEASE be okay.  
     So far, nobody. Until....... Do I see a flash of blonde? Mom? My breath pauses for a mere moment as I glance at the face. Gaunt face, brown eyes, slightly-hooked nose..... That's not my mother. I don't even know her. My heart sinks. Almost all of those who went on the expedition are in the wall now. I don't see ANY of them.  
     Eren pats my shoulder. He knows. He knows it all too well. I hang on to the faintest hope that my grandfather survived. He's alive.......... Right?

                             •            •            •                  
      _I'm crying, holding my knee. Here, I'm five years old. Mother is treating my wounds and helping me to calm down. Father is telling all their parents what their children did to me. I'm pretty badly hurt, for a five-year-old. Bruises and scrapes. But it hurts so much. My mother finally removes my hands off of my knee to clean it. Her soothing words will not subdue my tears. I'm weak. I can never save myself from THEM. I might as well be a small blade of grass in a field of wheat. They'll grow tall, strong, and useful. I just take up space._  
     When my mother finishes cleaning me, she kisses my forehead and starts cooking lunch. Father, who just got home, ruffles my hair and hugs me.  
     "It'll be okay, Armin. They're just trying to make themselves feel better. Their parents all know, so hopefully they won't bully you anymore. Okay?" I nod half-heartedly. They always hurt me. They always will. Eren can't help, even if he tries. I'm thankful his parents raised him right, though. Father goes to get firewood. He's strong, so he can carry a fair amount. I sit in my chair, looking at my feet. That's when Grandfather walks up to me.  
     He picks me up, sits down, and holds me in his lap. I sniffle and sob like a baby, but it's nice to be held. My face instinctively meets the front of his shirt, instantly staining the shirt with tears. Grandfather holds me tight, rubbing my back. I continue to cry until the tears can not run anymore. He calmly strokes my hair.  
     "Now what's this about people beating you up? You didn't get  yourself into trouble, did you?" I sniffle.  
     "I didn't even say anything.... I-I was just walking, a-and these boys called me mean things. S-something about I'm weak, they're strong.... A-and they HURT me! I-I...." Grandfather sighs.  
     "Armin.... Life is full of pain. The world is chock full of people like that. All this weak-strong talk? Everyone has something that they can do better than the others. You included. Nobody can change that."  
     "W-what do I have? T-they're all so big.... They'll just keep beating me up!" ....Ah, childish naïvety. All Grandfather does is ruffle my hair.  
     "Don't say that. You are stronger than them."  
     "H-how.....?" I feel his torso shake. He's chuckling. In the way that meant "Oh, Armin........." He didn't even have to say it. But.....  
     "Oh, Armin..... You're talking about physical strength. But you don't need to be able to beat people up to be strong. Not at all, my boy." I look into his brown eyes, trying to find meaning in those words. He continues, "You're smart, Armin. Smarter than those other boys. They only know how to hurt people. You're better than that." He moves my bangs and kisses my forehead. His beard tickles. "And I'll always be proud of you. Don't forget that. Even when I'm gone. I'll be proud of you." We sit like that for a long time. 

                             •            •            •                  
     My world is falling apart. They're nowhere to be found. It's now nightfall, and we are in a dimly-lit alleyway. I grasp my grandfather's hat and stare for a minute. My family is gone. I can do nothing about it. Crying, I hold the hat close to me. Why did this happen? Now I know how Eren and Mikasa felt. But who knew it would hurt so much? This hat..... Is it all I have left?  
     "We have to find a way to stop them....... Our lives will never be our own until we do..... This world will never feel like home...... That's it. Next year I'll apply to join the cadets." I gasp a little. Is he crazy? "To become strong enough to fight back!" I look back at the hat, and think for a second.  
     "I'm with you."  
     "You don't have to—" I cut Eren off.  
     "I do!" Eren is taken aback.  
     "So do I," Mikasa states.  
     "Damn it! I'm not trying to drag you in! Look, there's no point in following me to my death!" Eren argues. But there's no arguing with Mikasa.  
     "Yeah. And if I can help it, then it won't be your death." We both stare. Eren gets up and puts a determined look on his face.  
     "All right. Together, then." Hope builds up within me. Perhaps we can fight back. My parents and grandfather..... Will not have died in vain. It's just the three of us, now. And I doubt anybody will stand in the way. Not with Eren's stubbornness, not with Mikasa's strength....... Not on my watch.

11-13-14  



End file.
